


Home is where my cat is

by PurpleDarts



Category: Supernatural
Genre: BUT THIS IS LITERALLY ALL FLUFF, Castiel Has a Cat, Castiel has Anxiety, Castiel has insomnia, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, I don't know why i named the cat fig, Implied Relationships, Mentioned insomnia, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, mentioned anxiety, sorta - Freeform, this is why the tumblr tags is my kingdom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-24 10:24:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7504677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleDarts/pseuds/PurpleDarts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel likes to spend time in Dean's apartment. So does his cat, and sometimes that causes trouble. But maybe some trouble is good trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home is where my cat is

**Author's Note:**

> Look at me, trying to write things. I still can't do titles.   
> I blame Susan for all the stories I write (so many unpublished ones, teach me how to become articulate) because she's the one who plants all these stories in my head.

There was a hard knock on his door. Then three short raps, not too loud but they were loud enough to wake him up.

He climbed out of bed, and just as he pulled his pants on, the knocking started again.

“Alright, alright! I’m coming, jeez!” the man said as he walked out of his bedroom and towards the front door. He grabbed the doorknob and was almost punched in the face, the man who met him had his hand poised in the air, ready to knock yet again.

“Dean, it’s Fig, she’s missing again!” 

‘Right’, Dean thought. ‘Castiel, who else would knock on my door at-’ he looked over at the clock on the wall, ‘-three in the morning to look for their cat’. “What the hell man,” Dean said as Castiel brushed past him and into his apartment. “It’s three in the morning, why aren’t you asleep?”

Castiel just stared at Dean with an unimpressed look. “You know my insomnia is worse than usual right now, and you also know I don’t sleep well when Fig doesn’t come home at night.” Castiel turned back around and continued to search Deans apartment. 

“Whatever man, what makes you so sure she’s in here, anyway?” Dean said, looking away from Cas as he bent down to look under Dean’s couch. He went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, Castiel’s voice filtering through the open doorway.

“She ran in here earlier, and then she climbed out your window. You know she prefers your apartment to mine these days,” Castiel said as Dean walked out of the kitchen, two glasses of water in hand. “As do I,” Dean thought he heard Cas mumble, but he decided to ignore it, it was most likely his overactive and extremely tired imagination playing tricks on him.

Dean knew Castiel’s anxiety was easier to handle when he was in safe surroundings, and he knew Cas liked hanging out at his apartment, but to even hope that Cas felt safe enough to want to stay with Dean was just.. Dean felt awful for even thinking it. He should want his friend to be okay, not just here, with him.

Dean found Castiel with his face nearly buried in one of Dean’s hideous, giant potted plants. Dean didn’t even know why he kept those plants, definitely not because Castiel loved them so much. He supposed it was of sentimental reasons, he had gotten them from Charlie - who claimed his apartment needed some colour - right before she left for Scotland for a year to work with some new computer software thingy they’d made at her company. Dean wasn’t entirely sure what it was.

Dean tried to ignore the ridiculous picture of Castiel with his face buried in a potted plant, despite Cas knowing that Fig most likely couldn’t actually hide in there.  
“How did she even manage to run in here? I haven’t been home all day,” Dean walked over to where Cas was searching for Fig in his living room and took a sip of his water before he set both glasses down at the coffee table. Dean noticed Castiel stand a little straighter after is question, as if he was hiding something. 

“Well, I came in here earlier, like I sometimes do, and she ran in through your door and then probably ran outside through the window,” Castiel said, gesturing to one of Dean's living room windows before moving over to the TV bench and opening the drawers, as if Fig was smart enough to climb into one.

Dean had no clue why Cas sometimes visited Dean’s apartment when he wasn’t home or what he did when he was here, but Cas had always had these quirks about him. Dean figured if it helped ease his anxiety, he’d do anything for him, or in this case, let him do anything he wanted or needed to.

Right now Dean knew his friend was reaching the end of his patience. If he didn’t say the right thing Cas might have a panic attack, Fig meant the world to him and he really didn’t want to loose that cat.

“Well I’m sure she’s just out, it’s not unusual for cats to be out, Cas,” Dean tried, but Castiel was already loosing it, having searched Dean’s entire living room without finding Fig.  
The living room was the only room Fig was usually allowed into, because of Dean’s allergies.

Castiel started pacing, mumbling words under his breath. Soon he got all up into Dean’s personal space, and, among all the anxiety in his eyes, Dean saw first hand yet again how blue Cas’ eyes were.

“Dean, what if we don’t find her? Oh God, what if she’s dead? What if she’s in a ditch somewhere, cold and lonely and-”

“Cas, stop right now!” Dean grabbed Castiel by the shoulders and shook him slightly. “She’s fine, okay? We’ll find her. She’s probably just.. I don’t know, out, doing whatever it is that cats do,” Dean tried to placate his friend, who now had his eyes full of tears that were threatening to spill. He pulled Castiel close and hugged him for a minute, trying to comfort him. The familiar warmth of Cas was too much, it eased an ache inside Dean that he didn't know where came from - or rather didn't want to acknowledge where came from - and he couldn’t help himself, and soon he found himself nuzzling Cas’ hair. Luckily Castiel only sighed contentedly, seemingly not bothered too much by what Dean was doing, which was completely inappropriate. They were just friends, after all. 

Dean breathed in a small, soundless breath, taking some comfort he didn't know he needed from being in Castiel's arms. He smelled familiar, yet different.

Castiel was going on about something Fig had done a couple months ago, but Dean was too distracted by the familiar smell he couldn’t place, so he only caught bits and pieces of the story. He had undoubtedly told Dean this story several times already anyway, so Dean didn’t feel too guilty about not paying attention. Cas always talked about his cat when he had anxiety, it calmed him somehow.

Then it hit him. Cas smelled like the shampoo in Deans shower, the one he always complained about to Dean, claiming it smelled too citrus-y and Fig didn't like that. But Cas was always so adamant about always getting and using the shampoo that supposedly smelled like rain, not the citrus-y one Dean had. Had Cas borrowed his shampoo? Why would he do that?

The words escaped his mouth before he could help it. “Cas, did you use my shampoo?” Castiel clamped his mouth shut, story all but forgotten, and stilled in Dean’s arms. He tried to pull away, but Dean was too scared to see Castiel's face after what he had just accidentally said, so he just held Cas a bit tighter in his arms. 

Of course Cas hadn’t borrowed his shampoo, he could’ve just changed his mind and gone out and bought one like Dean’s. Except Castiel never changed his routines, he liked doing what he always did, including smelling like he always did. Dean tried and failed to not notice how weird it was to remember exactly how and what your best friends shampoo smelled like.

“I.. might’ve showered here, today.. Whilst you were at work,” Dean didn’t know what to say to that.

“Is that why Fig left through my window? And why I kept sneezing when I came home from work?” Dean responded, trying to lighten the mood with a small laugh.

“Well, you know she doesn’t like to be alone, so I let her sleep on your couch when I was here. She wasn’t here when I came back out of the bathroom but your window was conveniently open as it almost always is, so I figured she went outside through there,” Castiel relaxed a tiny bit in his arms, which then made Dean painfully aware that he was still holding his best friend, and they had crossed the line of normal, platonic bro-hugs several minutes ago.

Dean pulled away a little then, chickening out as usual. His hands stayed on Castiel's upper arms, and Cas kept his hands halfway around Deans waist. He could see that Castiel’s tears were gone from his eyes, so he counted it as a win. He gave Cas a small smile. “How about you stay here tonight, and we watch a movie or something?” Dean said, still trying - and still failing - to ignore the fact that Cas smelled like him, and what it did to the already insane circus of butterflies in his stomach.

“You need to sleep, Dean. I’ll just, I don’t know,” Castiel said, huffing a breath as his hands slipped away from around Dean’s waist and down to his sides. He took a few steps away from Dean as he sat down on the couch and scratched the back of his head a little, before leaning his elbows on his knees. 

“You need to sleep too, Cas, and you know how often Fig scratches my windows when she wants to come back inside. She sees this as her territory, even if she doesn’t technically live here, so she’ll probably want to come back in where she came from,” Dean said, settling down next to Cas and putting an arm around his shoulder. This apparently prompted Cas to let go of his entire weight and just fall into Dean’s body. “I don’t know. She’s probably found a better home,” Cas was sounding dejected, and scared.

“She hasn’t, Cas. I promise you, she couldn’t find a better owner than you even if she tried. You’re perfect,” Dean said, not realizing what he had said before those shining, wet blue eyes met his green ones.

“You really think so?” Cas asked, and he let a small smile grace his face. Dean could only return it, too scared to give away anything. The last thing he wanted was to scare Cas away. “Maybe we should just wait. If you really think she’ll come back through here,” Castiel pointed in the general direction of the now closed windows as he looked around the living room.

“I do. Now, you can borrow something to sleep in from me, and we’ll watch a season of doctor sexy on the TV in my room. Sounds good?” Dean suggested, standing up and holding out a hand to help Cas up.

“You’re the one who loves Dr. Sexy, Dean, and you’re the one who’ll fall asleep first, like always,” Castiel said with humour in his voice, trying to lighten his own mood.

“True,” Dean said, a smirk pulling at his lips as he helped Cas off the couch. “We can watch something else, then.”

Castiel shook his head, but didn’t let go of Deans hand when he was up from the couch, and merely used it to drag Dean to the bedroom. “I don’t mind, Dean. It’s an okay show, even if it’s highly unrealistic,” Cas chuckled a little as he turned a smile on Dean. Dean just smiled back, trying his best not to focus too hard on the warm hand in his.

Dean gave Castiel some pajamas, and Cas changed in the bathroom whilst Dean started the show.

Castiel came back into the room just as Dean was about to start the first episode, and climbed into the side of the bed not currently occupied by Dean. Dean instantly noticed how close Cas was sitting, but decided to just ignore it for now. He chalked it up to Cas being lonely without his cat, and definitely not anything else.

After the first episode, Dean was half asleep and couldn’t stay awake much longer. He tried his best to keep awake for Cas waiting for Fig, but it was just not happening. 

Some time later, Dean woke up with a startle, and noticed three things right away. The first thing he noticed was the sudden weight on his lap. The light from the TV showed him that Fig had just jumped into his bed, and was trying to get comfortable right on top of him. 

The second thing he noticed was that Dr. Sexy was still playing, and that he should probably turn it off.

The third thing he noticed, however, was what got, and kept, his attention. 

Castiel was asleep on his shoulder, snoring lightly into his hair. Dean tried to stay calm, but he couldn’t fight the need to peek down at the sleeping man next to him. Castiel looked completely at peace, except for a small frown on his forehead. Dean just smiled at Cas, and lifted his hand to move a short strand of hair off his forehead. 

Fig decided then that it was time to wake him up, and purred loudly as she walked right up into Castiels face to nuzzle his nose.

“Wha-” Castiel woke in an instance, but thankfully, Dean thought, didn’t move too much to change his current position. “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you! We’ve been worried sick!” Castiel said, and this time he did pull away from Dean, if only to pick up Fig and sit himself right next to Dean again, completely invading his personal space as usual.

“Now we can sleep peacefully,” Cas said, cuddling under the covers whilst Fig curled up on Castiel’s flank on top of the duvet, her tail moving lazily back and forth over Castiel’s duvet covered hip. 

“Dean,” Castiel said, looking at Dean to get his attention. Dean looked up from where he had been staring at the situation unfolding before him. “Can you get the lights and turn off the TV? We should sleep now,” He said, as if he wasn’t currently in his best friends bed, as if he hadn’t just woken up cuddled closely to said best friend.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Dean stuttered out, completely baffled by how calm Castiel was regarding all this. He leaned over to his nightstand and turned off the TV and the lights, and then he leaned back into bed and lied down under the duvet.

Castiel then invaded his personal space yet again, and cuddled as close as he could, without jostling Fig any more than necessary. Cas put his head on Dean’s shoulder, his hand over his racing heart, and let out a contented sigh into Dean’s neck.

Dean had no idea what to make of the situation, and he wasn’t sure what he should do. 

He ended up wrapping one arm around Cas’ shoulders, holding Cas close. He tried to calm down enough to sleep, but Cas was just so close, and no matter how often he’d invaded Dean’s personal space in the past, he’d never been this close before.

Before Dean could stop himself and his stupid mouth, the words tumbled out from between his lips, disturbing the silence.

“Why did you use my shampoo? You always bring your own if you need to shower here, because you say prefer the smell of rain and.. Stuff,” He regretted it the instance his lips shut after the sentence was out. Castiel stiffened a teeny bit beside him, before he cuddled a bit closer. Dean could feel it when he drew a breath to speak.

“Because it smells like you. And you smell like home, and safe. I feel safe with you,” Castiel had answered. Dean didn’t respond, didn’t know how to.

Castiel stiffened a bit in his arms again, obviously nervous about the thought he had just shared, and Dean was sure he was going to pull away and leave this time, so he squeezed his shoulders a bit with the arm he had around him, before he leaned down and kissed Castiel’s forehead. Castiel immediately relaxed.

After what felt like an eternity, but had probably only been fifteen minutes, Dean found his voice again.  
“You smell like home to me too, Cas. And you’ll always be safe with me,” he stared up at the ceiling after he finished his sentence, not even sure if Castiel was still awake.

“I’m glad we’re on the same page, then,” Castiel said, sounding half asleep and planting a small kiss on Dean’s neck, before he cuddled impossibly closer and promptly fell asleep. 

Dean smiled then, and held Cas tightly in his arm, as he reached up to pet Fig under her chin with his other hand. “I’m giving you a big bowl of something delicious tomorrow, ‘cause no matter how much you make me sneeze, I’ve got you to thank for this,” Fig responded by nuzzling his fingers, still purring loudly.

And with that, Dean closed his eyes too, and fell asleep with a small smile on his lips, matching the one gracing Castiel’s face.

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case it wasn't obvious (it wasn't) Fig had been hiding in Dean's room the whole time.  
> Let me know if it sucked, or if I should ever try writing again.


End file.
